AC Transit and the 1R Conga Line

On my walk to BART this morning, the rumble of AC Transit buses zooming down East 14th Street caught my attention. Looking to my right, I could see a 1 followed closely from behind by a 1R. A common sight any day of the week, as the two lines share a similar schedule that can overlap at times. It's what came after the 1R that got me bristling.

About 40 seconds behind the 1R came rolling... another 1R. Now, I've mentioned this in previous posts on The Patch, but today was special because I decided to give 511 a call about it. I've called them before to inquire about this subject, but it'd been a bit since I've done that and I felt like seeing what 511 had to say in this instance. I made the call and asked the operator why one of the 1Rs was running late.

As per usual, my question was met with confusion. "I don't know why the two are running so close to each other". I said to the operator how I couldn't understand why the 1Rs should be doubling up the way they do. If the buses are supposedly spaced 10 minutes apart (and with no specific times listed for them either, just a rough "10 minute" gap between buses) it seems strange that any 1Rs would be delayed long enough to catch up to one another.

The operator placed me on hold to speak with her supervisor. When she came back, she stated that her manager believes that sometimes the drivers have to operate the ramp for disabled passengers and that this can cause the buses to meet. I told the operator that this doesn't quite make sense, as I've been on the buses when a driver operates the ramp and uploads/offloads a passenger and it doesn't take anywhere near ten minutes. She paused, then simply asked, "would you like to file a complaint?"

So let's break this down. I saw a couple 1Rs rolling together at a quarter after 9 in the morning, called 511 to find out why, the operator didn't know, then goes to a manager who posits an excuse that isn't totally realistic. Meanwhile, the status quo (in my experience) is upheld, where I go to the people who have direct radio contact and GPS monitoring of the buses saying they don't know why a bus is late.

The problem with the AC Transit conga line down East 14th is that it's a huge waste of resources and no one seems to be held accountable for it. It's great when the 1R meets that rough ten minute schedule. Even if it's closer to 15, it's pretty darn convenient. However, when this happens, and the buses are linking together, a massive dead zone gets created. So instead of waiting 10-15 minutes for a bus, now you wait 20-25, sometimes even 30. Scheduling work around a bus trip can be maddening with unnecessary delays like this.

With two 1Rs running together, the lead bus is picking up every passenger waiting on the side of the road while the bus behind it is simply just doing drop-offs. Basically, one bus is doing half its job. Commuters are needlessly inconvenienced and money is wasted. What's worse, the people at 511 don't even know why half the time. I've gotten "mechanical issues" a couple of times when I've been lucky enough to get a real response. And yes, sometimes there are situations where a bus is legitimately made late. What I don't understand is why there's no apparent protocols in place.

Why not instruct the drivers to wait like five minutes if they catch up to another 1R? I've experienced momentary stops of 2-3 minutes on other lines when a driver says they're off schedule, and they're nowhere near another bus. I don't understand what sets the 1R apart, unless the drivers aren't reprimanded specifically because the 1R doesn't have a "set" schedule. That needs to change, if it's the case.

Anyone who's ridden an AC Transit bus knows how hard a job it can be for the drivers. If you've sat through police action on a bus, you really know. But this sort of blatant mismanagement is glaring to anyone who tries to take advantage of public transportation. 

I filed the complaint, by the way, Anyone else riding the 1R probably should, too.